The Bench
by Infatuated-Simplicity
Summary: NejiXSakura! She went there to remember. With some help, perhaps she would finally be able to let go. Side story or prequel to A Rather Eventful Day.


Author'sNote:This it a prequel or side story to _A__Rather__Eventful__Day_. I guess Neji is around 17 in this fic and Sakura is about 16. As for Sakura's signature jutsu, I will leave that up to your imaginations.

Summary: NejiXSakura one-shot! She went there to remember. With some help, perhaps she would finally be able to let go.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot…

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It was a cold night. Looking up, Neji noticed that a dim halo circled the moon. He would never admit it, but he was glad Hinata-sama had insisted that he wear jacket today.

It had not started out this cold. In fact it had been pleasantly cool for most of the day. It had been nice weather to train in.

His training had been interrupted a little after two in the afternoon by a call from the Hokage. He had ended up spending a number of hours there organizing a rather complicated battle strategy with the Hokage and Nara Shikamaru. They were not currently in a war, but Tsunade-sama was taking no chances. Preparations had to be made for every possible scenario.

By the time he had been allowed to leave not only had the night long since covered Konoha but it had rained which caused the temperature to drop drastically.

So now he was walking home in the cold.

Unfortunately the Hyuuga compound was all the way on the other side of the village. He would have to pass by the gates to get there.

Hadn't Tenten mentioned something about being placed on guard duty?

If she had, then she would want to chat when he passed by and he was in no mood to humor her. He had already exchanged pleasantries with her once today. He didn't need to do that twice.

It was true that every now and then he found himself wanting to spend time with his old genin team, but it was not often. Once you got used to him, Lee was rather predictable and easy to handle. Gai was similar to Lee and thus easily dealt with. Tenten, on the other hand, could be down right annoying.

He knew it was not her personality that was annoying. When she calmed down she could be quite pleasant. But when she was on the prowl for a training partner at three in the morning, which she did on a regular basis, he could not fight the urge to run in the opposite direction.

She seemed to think that he was some unstoppable fighting machine, which was far from true. Sure, on missions nothing was going to stop him from completing his task but at home he liked to take breaks. She was constantly recruiting him for training. Unfortunately for him the training only benefited her since anything she could throw at him was easily blocked by his Kaiten. He needed more of a challenge.

Training with team Kakashi was quite useful. Fighting with Naruto was always a great deal of fun since the boy never ran out of energy. He had not gotten a chance to fight with the new comer, Sai, but he soon would. Fighting with Kakashi had improved his long-range ninjutsu quite a bit. But the real surprise had come from the kunoichi of the team.

After extensive training with Kakashi, some taijutsu training with Lee, and her apprenticeship with the Hokage, Haruno Sakura was a force to be reckoned with.

Her taijutsu had improved drastically after months and months of training with Kakashi and Lee. They helped her increase her speed. It was rumored that Kakashi had taught her the Chidori, but she had yet to show it to anyone if he had. That, together with her inhuman strength, was a thing to be feared.

Other than that, she had received some genjutsu training from Kurenai and some lessons in the use to the sword from Tenten. She was already listed in the Bingo Book as a top medic. And she was extremely intelligent. Shikamaru had drifted around in a daze the day she beat him at shogi.

All in all, she was an excellent opponent. He was looking forward to their next spar. They trained together often and had become friends. She was proving to be the only woman that did not annoy him.

"Neji!" …But _this _woman certainly did. The high-pitched voice resounded in the night.

Tenten had spotted him and it was too late to retreat. The girl was already running in his direction.

"I just got off of duty. Do you want to go eat and then have a quick sparring session?" Her face was hopeful and eager as she approached him.

He knew she had been sitting around all day but couldn't she find someone else?

"I must decline. I already trained with Naruto today." He spoke in a tone that left no room for discussion.

The statement was totally true. He had been training with Naruto until lunch, when the call of ramen and a date with Hinata-sama had Naruto running for Ichiraku.

"Too bad. Maybe next time?" Contrary to popular belief, the hopeful look in Tenten's eyes was not for want of his personal company. She just wanted a fight, which allowed him to consider her small request.

"Perhaps." His voice was toneless and gave her no indication that he was looking forward to "next time".

But she was used to getting those types of answers from him. She smiled at his answer and then got a rather determined look. It was a look he had seen many times before.

"Alright. Have a nice night Neji!" she bounded off in search of Lee, her next victim. Unlike Neji, Lee was more than willing to help Tenten train at any time, day or night.

The breeze picked up and he stuck his hands in his pockets. He was only half way home. The gates were in sight and that signaled the half way mark.

He pitied the poor men that were stuck on guard duty tonight. They must be freezing!

Thankfully, he had never been put on guard duty. It was such a mundane task. All you did was sit around and watch the trees. At least in the Hokage's office he was using his brain. He knew that eventually he would have to serve guard duty, but if the day never came it would be too soon.

He was brought out of his musings by the sound of fabric in the breeze, but it wasn't his clothes. Looking around he saw a flash of red near by.

There, on a bench, laid Haruno Sakura.

As Neji moved closer he could see that she was damp. Her clothes were damp and so was her hair. She must have been out here since it started raining. That was hours ago.

The small skirt she wore would lift up to reveal her tight black shorts every time the breeze blew past her. Her pink hair, now worn long, was floating in the wind and occasionally dusting the ground. Her arms were limp at her sides and her legs were bent but still managed to touch the end of the concrete seating arrangement. Her back was resting against the cold concrete and her eyes were focused the stars above her head.

He moved to stand next to her knowing that she knew he was there. She was very good at sensing chakra.

Looking at her from this angle he could see that her expression was blank. She gave no indication as to what she might be thinking. When he looked up to see what she found so fascinating her expression had not changed.

The stars were shinning and the full moon was surrounded in a hazy halo. It was a beautiful sight to be sure, but not one that you would risk your health for.

"I always come here during the full moon." Her voice was soft and it tugged at his curiosity. Perhaps she just liked the view. Or maybe there was something more too it than that.

"Why?" His voice seemed to bring her out of her daze. She sat up and patted the now empty space next to her. He took the seat and noted how cold the concrete really was.

"When he left it was a full moon. I suppose I started coming out here to wait for him at first, but I stopped coming for that reason some time ago. I come here to remember." Neji took in the information.

What ever she was remembering it did not seem pleasant. The only thing he could recall that might affect her this way was a rumor he had heard and dismissed. But perhaps he had been wrong to assume that the damage of the Uchiha's departure had been healed.

"You come to remember the Uchiha?" Her head tilted to the side at his question, her cheek coming dangerously close to his shoulder.

"No. I just come here to remember everything. The good and the bad. But mostly my thoughts are about people. Admittedly Sasuke comes up quiet often, more often than anyone else, but that is inevitable I suppose. I did spend most of my child hood pining after him." With a heavy sigh she turned her gaze back to the moon.

He should have left it at that. He should have gone home. But something told him to stay.

After a few minutes of silence he saw her shiver violently. He remembered that her clothes were still damp and the icy breeze was still drifting past. He reached out and pulled her close to his side to share his warmth.

Curiosity struck him and he could not hold the question back. Who could blame him? This spot was not partiqularly special in anyway to someone simply passing by. What drew her here every full moon?

"Why this spot?" He asked in a quiet voice. There was no need to be loud. They were so close he could smell her shampoo.

He watched her expression change to one that he had never seen before. It was a bitter look that settled on her visage. Despite the fact that the look she sported was beautiful, simply because she was the one wearing it, he found that he did not like this look on her. It didn't belong on her face.

"My most unpleasant and depressing memory took place right here. Right in front of this very bench. I suppose it could be considered living in the past but I can't seem to let it go. Not until something good happens here." There was a distinct sadness in her eyes as she spoke but it did not move onto her face. She kept it locked inside.

"What happened here?" She startled him when she began to laugh at his question. It was a dry laugh with no humor lacing its edges.

"And here I thought everyone knew… The night Sasuke left all those years ago I tried to convince him to stay. I told him that I loved him. When that didn't work I said I would go with him, become a missing-nin. I had been willing to leave my life behind for him. It wasn't enough and apparently neither was I,"

Sakura tore her sad gaze away from the moon and stared at the ground. For a few seconds Neji thought she was going to cry, but her eyes remained dry.

"The bastard knocked me out and left me on this bench. I laid here all night, unconscious, until Kotetsu and Izumo found me. I felt so cold, alone, and… unwanted. Useless. That is why I trained with Tsunade-shishou, to stop being useless,"

Her arms wrapped themselves around her waist in a protective manner and Neji couldn't help but pull her a little closer to his body.

"Some where along the way I decided to that I would keep up with Naruto, so we could both bring Sasuke back together. We failed last time and that feeling came back. Uselessness. I had to get stronger, hence my training with multiple sensei. Kakashi-sensei decided that we would increase my speed and chakra reserves until I could perform the Chidori, though I will never use it in battle. While I am sure Kakashi-sensei would rather me use it, I do not want to use the same technique as Sasuke. Realizing this, Kakashi and I spent time developing my own signature jutsu. I made sure to test it against both the power of the Chidori and the Rasengan and it matches their strength,"

Neji could not believe his ears. She knew two jutsu of that strength and she had not shown either one to anyone but Kakashi. She should be a jounin. He stopped thinking about that when he realized she was going to continue talking.

"If I meet with Sasuke again, I want him to fear me. I want to be indifferent towards him. I don't want to care about whether he lives or dies. I want to move on." She lifted her head to look out straight and he could see the determination glistening in her green depths. He too looked straight out, almost as if he wanted to see whatever she was seeing.

"In order to do that you will have to let go of this place, Sakura." He could see her nod though he was not looking at her. He had seen it so many times that he didn't have to see it to know what it looked like.

"I know, but before I do I want to have a good experience here." Her statement hung in the air.

He thought for a moment and then quickly stood up bringing her with him. He pointed to the bench they had been sitting on.

"Destroy it." By the look she gave him it was obvious that she did not comprehend.

"Destroy the bench. Rid yourself of that which makes you linger here." Understanding flooded her emerald orbs as she smiled. She raised a chakra-laden hand. She looked directly into his eyes and Neji saw the sadness begin to leave.

"Help me?" Her plea was so quiet that he barely heard it.

Reaching out, he grasped her wrist in his hand. He guided her to stand in front of him. She leaned against him and swiftly brought their hands down.

His hand did not do much damage, if any at all, but her fist did. They watched as the concrete cracked and crumbled, turning into dust. It couldn't seem to crumble fast enough.

After the dust settled she moved to sit down. Again he thought she was crying but was surprised to find that she sported a smile. He watched that smile get bigger as he moved to sit on the ground next to her.

"I want to lay here one last time. Just once more. But I don't want to be alone." Neji looked at her face and then laid back.

"You won't be." When she smiled at him, her smile reached her eyes.

She curled up next to him. Her pink hair was resting on his hand and he could not help but play with it.

He felt her shiver again and noticed an unusual tug on his emotions. A surge of protective tendencies and affection raced through his system and for once he let his emotions guide his actions.

He pulled her to rest on top of him and closed his jacket around them, shielding her from the cold.

He would stay with her until she was ready to leave, he decided. Even if they laid out here in the cold all night, he would stay with her. He would stay with her until she was ready, until she forgot the world around her.

He felt a movement from the woman on top of him. He looked up to find her face very close to his. He realized what she was doing after he felt her cold lips against his. It was a light kiss but it was sensual in a way that Neji had never seen before.

"Thank you, Neji." She lowered her body until her cheek rested against his chest.

Soon enough he felt her breathing deeply. Why she felt comfortable enough to sleep on him he did not know, but he wasn't going to question the gift fate had handed him.

How long they laid there he did not know but all too soon she woke again. She lifted her head to smile at him.

"You stayed." Some of her long pink hair fell into her face and he didn't stop himself from gently tucking the stands behind her ear.

"Of course."

She moved to stand up and he followed. She started walking and seemed to be guiding him somewhere.

"How does breakfast sound to you, Neji?"

It sounded heavenly. He hadn't eaten since lunch the day before and the morning light was just beginning to creep in.

"Hn." Her laugh at his monosyllabic answer echoed in the empty streets.

"Come on you. I'll make pancakes. It is the least I can do for making you stay out in the cold all night."

He reached down to capture her hand in his. With a light squeeze he got her to look over at him.

"I didn't mind. And breakfast sounds nice. But I will only allow you to cook if you let me take you to dinner."

He felt a slight pressure on his hand as she squeezed it slightly. It seemed that her smile was contagious because he found himself smiling down at her.

"Deal."

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EndComments: so, what did you think? Good? Bad? I happen to like this one.


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